Two Rockford Auto Accident In Less Than an Hour Injure Several

Blog Post by Barry G. Doyle

The Illinois city of Rockford certainly has its share of auto accidents. Even so, it’s fairly rare for two injury crashes to occur in that city in less than an hour’s time. But that’s exactly what happened last week.

On Wednesday, August 1, two vehicles collided at approximately 6pm in the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Montague Road just northeast of Route 20. According to authorities, a car was driving south on Springfield and ran a red light. That car struck a vehicle that was westbound on Montague. A total of five people had to be taken by ambulance to area hospitals, but none of the injuries were reportedly life-threatening.

Another crash took place around 6:45pm about seven miles away. A vehicle in the westbound lanes of Route 20 had driven about a half-mile past South Alpine Road when its driver inexplicably tried to travel in reverse. Another vehicle approaching from behind had to swerve to miss the vehicle that was backing up. The swerving vehicle left the roadway and rolled over onto its side. Its driver had to be extricated and rushed to a hospital. The person driving the reversing car tried to flee the scene, but was apprehended shortly thereafter.

The fault in these two auto accidents is pretty clear. In the two-car collision, the driver who ran the red light will almost certainly be held fully liable for the injuries that occurred in the crash. Those victims have solid grounds for personal injury lawsuits against the red light-running driver. In the second incident, the injured driver can file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle that traveled in reverse. Because such a maneuver is not permitted on an Illinois highway, that makes the reversing driver responsible for the injuries to the driver of the car that swerved off the road.